Care on how the general market did today?
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Close Dow +84.29 at 7922.59, Nasdaq +0.02 at 1536.60, S&P +10.00 at 963.39: The Dow's losing streak has ended at five with investors returning to blue chip issues today amid expectations that some stability will be restored to the Asian markets... Optimism is rooted in the hope that the Japanese govt. will announce a convincing fiscal stimulus package tonight that will add much needed support to its troubled banking system... Moreover, South Korea's currency made a notable rebound last night which fueled a 7% gain in the Kospi Index as prospects grew brighter that South Korea would be able to meet its short-term debt obligations with additional IMF aid on the way... A better outlook with respect to Asia, however fleeting it may be, enabled investors to focus on the strong U.S. economy which has forged onward with few signs of inflationary pressures... Among today's leaders were the financial issues which benefitted from the favorable interest rate environment and the expectation that the Asian crisis, and an impending importation of deflation, will prompt the Fed to leave rates unchanged at tomorrow's FOMC meeting... Unlike the Dow and S&P, which managed to hold early gains despite modest selling pressure, the tech sector got derailed early after earnings estimates were lowered on Intel, and when Microsoft, along with several chip and chip equipment stocks, was downgraded... By 12:30 ET, the Nasdaq was off 20 points... At that point, however, buying interest in the broader market carried over to the tech stocks which pared their losses significantly as momentum investors went bargain hunting... Leading the resurgence were the chip and chip equipment stocks... By day's end, the tech-laden Nasdaq eked out the slightest of gains as larger losses among many of the industry leaders were pared... In the broader market, the oil drilling and oil service stocks were among the biggest laggards while banking, drug, airline, and oil stocks underpinned the gains... DJTA +35.59...DJUA +2.33... SOX +5.20.
15:30 ET Dow +108, Nasdaq +3, S&P +12.53: Momentum investors have returned, taking advantage of recent weakness... Chip and chip equipment stocks have led the tech resurgence despite several downgrades in both industry groups today... Bond market doing the same song and dance, and has endured some profit taking as the stock market rebounds... Long-bond -20/32 to yield 5.97%... Rate-sensitive stocks undeterred and have been leaders all day... DJUA +2.20... SOX +8.00.
15:00 ET Dow +82, Nasdaq -0.56, S&P +9.42: Quite a swing for the tech-laden Nasdaq which bottomed around 12:30 ET, and has been on the rebound ever since... Sharp declines among industry leaders attracting the "buy on the dip" crowd, yet it's hard to believe that today's comeback will be anything but a transitory development... Outlook for the technology area looks pretty dim right now as companies are pre-announcing earnings shortfalls, earnings estimates are being lowered, and PC demand, in particular, is seen weakening given the slowdown in Asia.
14:35 ET Dow +78, Nasdaq -5, S&P +8.67: Tech sector joining in on the broader market's advance and is now well off of its lows of the day... While computer and telecom. equipment stocks remain under pressure, chip equipment and chip stocks have led the rebound... Dow poised to end its 5 day losing streak with the recent pullback proving enticing to market bulls... DJTA +32.25... DJUA +1.89... SOX +4.26.
14:00 ET Dow +75, Nasdaq -9, S&P +8.01: Buyers back in the action with the indices exhibiting some positive momentum... Today's leadership in the broader market a bit more convincing than what we've seen as of late with banks and oil companies posting decent gains... Continued concern over Asian crisis and its impact on earnings growth most evident in the tech sector which is contending with rumblings over slowing PC demand, downward revisions to Intel's earnings estimates, and a BA Robertson Stephens downgrade of Microsoft from buy to l/t attractive... DJTA +33.42... DJUA +1.57.
13:35 ET Dow +58, Nasdaq -12, S&P +6.07: Market stabilizes after buying interest wanes... Techs still underwater, yet larger losses have been pared... Rate-sensitive issues among the standouts today, having drawn support from the drop in long-term rates, and the expectation that the Fed will leave short-term rates unchanged tomorrow at its FOMC meeting... American Express (AXP +2 3/8) and J.P. Morgan (JPM +3 5/8) lead the Dow... DJUA +1.07.
13:00 ET Dow +64, Nasdaq -12, S&P +7.03: Divergence in today's market with the Dow and S&P holding modest gains while a host of negative news (i.e. earnings revisions and downgrades) in the tech sector has the tech-laden Nasdaq trading notably lower... Broader market extending its gains while the Nasdaq is currently cutting its losses behind some bargain hunting tied, in part, to the belief that the Asian freefall will stabilize with IMF aid coming this month to South Korea, and expectations of a propitious fiscal stimulus package from the Japanese govt. that will give some much needed support to its banking system.
12:30 ET Dow +42, Nasdaq -20, S&P +3.08: Earnings concerns taking their toll on some of this year's biggest winners in the tech sector... Compaq, Dell, Cisco, Microsoft, and America Online all down sharply... As noted in today's Stock Brief, lofty valuations require strong earnings growth... Pricing pressure, excess inventory, stronger competition, slowing PC demand, and Asian weakness will undoubtedly interfere with earnings projections... This reality is sinking in with investors, and analysts as the latter have cut estimates and issued downgrades while the former have taken heed and secured profits.
12:00 ET Dow +39, Nasdaq -19, S&P +2.95: After an up open based on hopes that some
confidence has returned to the market, the Dow and S&P have traded in a narrow range with a bias to the downside...the Nasdaq, however, has seen early modest gains give way to steady selling, and that index is now down over 1% while the Dow and S&P are up about 1/2%...techs were hit today by widespread downgrades across many sectors by BT Alex Brown, BA Robertson Stephens, and SoundView...on top of that there was even a downgrade to Microsoft (MSFT), an earnings estimate reduction for Intel (INTC), and Cypress Semiconductor (CY) said earnings would be below expectations...but the real issue is persistent, underlying concerns that the Asian turmoil is hurting profits...PC makers are taking the biggest blow today, but airlines are up strongly again as the Dow Transport Index is +38, and bank stocks continue higher as the 30-year bond yield remains below 6%...Micron (MU) is due to report earnings after the close today, and the
Fed's policy arm, the FOMC, meets tomorrow amidst widespread expectations they will leave rates unchanged...3Com (COMS) and Adobe (ADBE) report earnings Thursday...volume is moderate for a Monday, with Nasdaq volume ahead of the NYSE.
11:25 ET Dow +28, Nasdaq -15, S&P +1.89: The slippery slope seems to be setting in for the S&P...no panic by any means, just not much support evident...techs, meanwhile, are in steady retreat.
11:00 ET Dow +39, Nasdaq -11, S&P +2.99: Techs are in retreat again and overall market is now easing back as well...early up open has seen no followthrough strength and although the indices have been resilient, there is a risk they will give way...the news today is on the negative side again today, with downgrades and earnings warnings weighing on the opening bounce based largely on buying the dip.
10:30 ET Dow +40, Nasdaq -6, S&P +4.34: Nasdaq fell to -9 then bounced back
some...overall market has also bounced back but never showed the weakness tech stocks and the Nasdaq have, and Dow has been in fairly narrow range...computer makers still sharply lower...financial stocks continue strong, and airlines remain one of the hottest sectors.
10:00 ET Dow +32, Nasdaq -4.5, S&P +2.94: Market quickly gives ground after up
open...tech stocks immediately face selling, with Dell (DELL) -4 1/4 and all PC makers
lower...semiconductors, equipment makers, computer makers downgraded by BT Alex Brown, BA Robertson Stephen, and SoundView not helping...persistent underlying concerns about Asia turmoil causing earnings problems...such concerns may yet spread to overall market...Dow Transport +24 as airlines remain strong...30-year bond yield still below 6% helps...Friday is triple witching options expiration.
09:45 ET Dow +40, Nasdaq +5, S&P +4.19: Decent up open in line with expectations...perhaps a bit soft on the S&P, but Nasdaq shows some bounce...now it remains to be seen whether some confidence has been restored, or whether the market is unable to hold early gains, as was the case on Friday...breadth figures good so far with advancers over decliners about 2 to 1 on NYSE.
09:15 ET: S&P still +2.7 in early trading (and 2 points above fair value on Friday's close), so a Dow open of +40 or so seems in the cards...again, though it remains to be seen if cash traders hold the gains...widespread downgrades in tech sector from BT Alex Brown, BA Robertson Stephens, and SoundView for semiconductor equipment makers, semis, and PC's, as well as earnings warning from Cypress Semi (CY) suggest tech sector could have more troubles than overall market.
08:45 ET: Early indications are for a solid up open of maybe +45 or so in the Dow as S&P futures are +3 1/2 points on top of closing 2 points above fair value Friday...however, early futures gains lately have not been held during cash trading, so it is still just an early indication at this point...Asian markets were mixed but Korea, which has been extremely volatile, jumped 7%.
Close Down -10.69 at 7838.30, Nasdaq -21.89 at 1536.65, S&P -1.54 at 953.40: The
economic unrest in Asia once again became the focal point for investors as a host of earnings warnings, and several downward revisions to earnings estimates this week were blamed on the Asian crisis... On Monday, Coke's estimates were lowered due to the strong dollar... On Tuesday, the market contended with an earnings disappointment from Oracle... On Wednesday, Microsoft warned that its revenues in Asia were slowing due to weak PC demand in Japan... In addition, J.P. Morgan said its 4th qtr would be adversely impacted due to the unsettled global markets that resulted in lower trading revenue... On Thursday, IBM had its estimates cut due to the strong dollar, but more importantly, due to the slowing demand for PCs in Japan as well... And today, Electronics For Imaging plunged more than 60% after an earnings warning tied to the weakness in Asia... And these are just some of the more notable developments this week... There were other earnings warnings and there will be more as the market is discovering that the Asian
troubles are real and earnings growth will be affected by a slowing demand for U.S. goods in Asian countries... A shift in sentiment was obvious this week... Today's lackluster response to some inflation-friendly PPI data was yet another sign that investors are growing more cognizant of the Asian economic debacle... And for the first time this year, the Dow ended lower every day of the week... In contrast, the bond market rallied big time, benefitting from the flight-to-quality trade and the benign inflation data... Long-bond now trading +27/32 to yield 5.93%... If gains are held, it would mark the lowest closing yield since October 1993... Tech stocks were hit particularly hard, and today was no exception... Tech-laden Nasdaq dropped nearly 6% from where it began the week.
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